FX--Hargeisa is becoming quiet the metropolitan with
sprawling buildings that seem to be erected overnight by the numbers with ever
increasing shops, coffee places, restaurants
and other bazaars providing mixture of services for residents, new and
old.
Diaspora with extra bucks to spend seem to be
enjoying more than they should but local
emerging middle class with their purchasing power is by far demanding better goods and services.
That entire buzz is generating traffic jams in
already narrowed, degraded, bad roads that in need of immediate attention to overhaul
the entire faded streets that look like as they were paved a century earlier.
Pot holes, street vendors inching closer to the two lane roadways and teenage
boys that think walking in the middle is a fashion make already difficult
driving conditions even worst.
With the entire hurdle, people still go on with
their usual routine, managing to deal with the hustle and the bustle of this
increasingly crowded city, unless government road authority closes arteries
that connect the main centers to haphazardly begin construction work in the
middle of the day.
This is exactly what happened on Thursday, February
13 2014. Some genius decided to close the main Madaxtooyada road on the most
busies morning of the week, the last day of the work week here in Somaliland.
The Hargeisa main road that runs from down town to
government offices in former Gobolka administration area is the bottleneck of
the city where most business offices and shops are located. Whoever behind this closer decided, what the
heck, it is Thursday morning, busiest morning of the week where majority of
residents are rushing to do the last minute errands or to finish the weeks
unfinished business before the weekend approaches, so add little spicy on their
day.
Little does he know that thousands of cars become stranded
on every inch around the 10 block radius surrounding the Madaxtoodayda, (the
Presidential Palace). Think of the security nightmare!
Already untested,
unregulated drivers with bad manners whom mostly never put sight of traffic
rules become more erratic. Frustrated commuters sought answers from nervous
looking, poorly equipped and badly trained militia remnants converted to act as
traffic police. No one of these supposed to be traffic police had answers for the
city people.
At one point a Lieutenant Major Officer sitting on
an old motorcycle got irritated with the drivers and more often used #$%$ word
to match their heated query and harshly responded curse words with all the
energy he could master (however it seemed weak). I happened to be the receiving
end of the curse when I threw comment at him and said, "Who would in his right
mind could have ever created such a mess". He made my day when he said
that, "we #$%$ the mess so go on boy " ( I later found out this tired
looking, chain smoking, retired old
guard on the edge of drawing his gun named Abdi is fed up with all the
fuss).
I was thinking to shout to him
to, "lay off the Qaad and gather your strength old boy". But I'm sure
any provocation would further exacerbate the situation and may jolt him reach
his red pistol on his hip. So go on was the right action as he demanded
But, SERIOUSLY, can anyone tell those road guys to
get a real plan and stop making this sort of gridlock. The damage to the
economy let alone the security problems this sort of decisions to lock down the
city create is unimaginable.
Hargeisawians are already grabbling with the
government entourage that decides to make a chaos whenever one of them is
traveling to and from the airport. Can we just go on with our daily lives like
any other normal city dwellers without suffering with the brunt of your
incompetence? PLEASE!
WAA HARGEEYSEE!!!
Magan Ibrahim
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